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Spiritual Refreshment at Bear Lake

October 4, 2016

By a wonderful chance, I, who live in the urban area and have never been to any foreign country before, got to experience American culture at Bear Lake in Utah State for 3 months. My first impression about this beautiful place is the turquoise water, breathtaking, peaceful and boundless. Though I had been to seaside a lot, I was still amazed by the natural beautiful scenery. Fresh air, extremely blue sky and marshmallow-like clouds make me feel more free and refreshed than ever, far away from all the city noisy and turmoil.

Besides, the people of Bear Lake are really kind and will greet with each other whether they know them or not. Influenced by the Mormon Church, residents value families so much that they do many more family activities than we do in China, which makes me even want to have a bigger family and take my family members to do plenty of outdoor activities. I am surrounded by the sacred atmosphere in that most of my American friends belong to the church. To be honest, it is not an easy deal for me, who was raised and immersed in an atheism environment, to believe in the existence of god. It is a total different way of seeing and recognizing the world. However, I am touched deeply by their sincerity and enthusiasm and start to deeply ponder the question of universe origination. No matter which explanation is more close to the truth, we all should remember that life is precious and we all deserved to live this life to the fullest. The motivation that God endows us to live a better life and to protect those things we cherish is what really matters to me.

My employee is a very generous and considerate person. He arranged some great activities for us. For instance, he took us to the Olympic Park in Park City. We experienced a lot of thrilling sports there and we had so much fun. What’s more, we witnessed the spirit of Olympics and experienced American’s enthusiasm towards outdoor activities, encouraging me to exercise more. Besides, he also took us to Yellow Stone National Park which is of great scenery amidst the West America. We saw buffalos, deer and moose showing no fear to tourists along the driveway. However, the most amazing part about it is the Old Faithful Geyser which is really spectacular. And we happened to see a hawk circling around the geyser which was rushing forth to about 150 feet high. In the way back to Bear Lake, we went to Jackson Hole which is famous for skiing and great history. We took the tram to the top of Jackson Hole from which we can see all the view of this magical place. It is a totally astonishing visual and spiritual experience.

Since I have never had total financial independence before, my job experience here illustrates some important rules of life to me. First, there is never a free lunch. You gain how much you sow. Society is both cruel and fair that it will always favor the diligent people. One cannot be progressed if one does not have a try. Consequently, you will always get paid if you work real hard. Secondly, never delay anything important if you can do it early. Time is really significant. Life’s time is limited but can always be extended if you squeeze your time. Thirdly, always try to be proactive, for example ask for more jobs to do rather than let the jobs find you, and introduce yourself to others instead of waiting for others to introduce themselves. I’ve got to make friends with many Americans because of this. Scott is one of our best friends in US. It is known to all that you cannot go to anywhere without a car in the west of America. Scott, who is a cute “curmudgeon,” took us to visit some interesting places and taught us some authentic English. The most impressive thing about him is his attitude about his church. He said the church is his priority and he wishes to be a better person with all his heart. He treats us with sincerity and leads us to a better life. We love him so much.

In a word, this program provides us opportunity to get touch with nice American people and make friends with them. In the meantime, it opens our eyes by exposing us to a multi-cultural country and it enables us to experience what life really is and get some practical English training both in listening and speaking. I appreciate this opportunity a lot and I am of so much gratitude to know and have so much good friends from this.